I really like how this icy tree in my backyard turned out against the white sky. I thought I would share with you how I made this happen. Because remember… I’m not a great photographer and have an old Canon point and shoot camera… I just know how to do tricks:-)
Here it is straight from the camera. It was raining and turning into ice on the trees. I was fascinated with how white the sky looked. But the photo I took did not capture what it really looked like in person. Mmmm, probably because I didn’t even go outside. This was shot through a very dirty window from upstairs! ha.
First, cropped some of the bottom limbs out of the photo. I then opened Levels and moved the far right Input Levels slider toward the black until the gray was gone from the sky. This turned the entire sky white which I loved, but the tree was still kind of bla.
To make the tree pop. I used the Pioneer Woman’s Define and Sharpen Action. (these actions are free) I could have probably done this well enough by sharpening it myself, but the actions are super easy. I did end up sharpening it a little more to my taste.
I then opened Levels again and clicked on the Set Black Point dropper. I found a light gray part of the tree and hit the dropper on that point, this then made the tree all black and much more dramatic.
I then deleted a branch that was bugging me in the bottom right corner and voila!
I think it looks like a vector image now and would make a great background image for note cards or stationary. Stay tuned to see what I do with it!
***Don’t have Photoshop? Then try the online version here.
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Thanks for sharing!
Stephanieโs last blog post..The beauty of a 50 mm, 1.8 lens
What a great tut Amy! Thanks for sharing!!!
Amy,
Love the shot!! Great composition. Also loved that you explained how you did all the enhancements. Keep up the great work! I heart faces was a brilliant idea, and I look forward to sharing there each week. Thanks for following our blog. If it ok with you Id like to put a link on our blog to yours?
Tim
Timโs last blog post..
What a great photo – thank you for sharing how to do it!
what a beautiful pic. I have Photoshop and am still strying to figure it all out
deborahโs last blog post..
I love this tutorial! I am still not as good with Photoshop Elements. It can be tough at times… Still trying though and look forward to trying to make a great sky like this one. Thanks for the tips!
MommaDJaneโs last blog post..Amy Adele
Oh very cool! One of my resolutions is to learn to do more with photoshop! I’m going to link to this so I can remember for myself! =)
Awesome tut, thanks! I have CS3 but I only know how to use ready-made actions (like PW’s). How lame is that?! I’d love to learn a lot more this year.
Will play around w/ your tip!
Fantastic photo and thanks for the how too information, i have recently gotten a copy but not sure where to start and interesting to see how other people use it.
Pearl Mapleโs last blog post..Sky Watch Friday
Sure sounds like you had some fun with those branches.
Arijaโs last blog post..SkyWatch *20 Yet Another SUNRISE
Fun tutorial Amy ~ you got rid of all the gray and gloom! ๐ I love to learn anything new with Photoshop.
theArthurClanโs last blog post..A Glorious Evening.
Very cool image. I love how bare trees look against all kinds of skies. I think the bare trees look cooler in pictures than ones with their leaves!
Tracieโs last blog post..Hats everywhere
You are the free download girl and the free TIP girl! I don’t have photoshop and I would LOVE to!
Fifi Flowersโs last blog post..A little more DOT goes a long way…
Thank you for sharing this information. And thank you for the comment on my blog. I love your owl header! Very cute.
Do What You Loveโs last blog post..Beauty in Everything
Fascinating stuff .. and excellent explanations .. I love your photo with your baby …
Here’s a link with info about the bldg in my Sky Watch photo
http://www.theoneillbuilding.com/
Thanks for the visit
Thank you for the tutorial. I am just about to buy the new Canon Rebel and this just gets me more excited to try photo shop too!
Laurieโs last blog post..Happy New Year!!!
Great help- see if I can do that on my own- Usually I need one of my kids helping me or my sweet daughter in law Heidi.
Thanks-
{remember- I grew up when you still took your photos to a special guy in a dark room and waited a week or more to get your photos back :}
Great work!
Digital Polaroidsโs last blog post.."Y" is for "Yellow Collage"